While householders produce less than 10 per cent of the UK’s waste, the construction sector is responsible for around one third of total arisings. What’s being done to target this mountain of rubble? Will Simpson investigates

‘Reduce’ may be the first of the 3Rs, but it’s also the most neglected and hardest to crack. Libby Peake journeys into the average consumer’s mind to find out why, and what can be done to help

The plight of e-waste scavengers has been well documented, but not well tackled. All that is set to change – in Nigeria at least – as British academics have initiated a project to educate the workers. Emma Rose reports

Following delays in the transposition of the revised Waste Framework Directive into UK law, concerns are emerging that the final UK interpretation may not adhere to the spirit of the directive. Charles Newman reports

Convenience, they say, is key to the success of any recycling service. We must do everything we can to make things as easy as possible for the public, otherwise – silly things – they are apt to toss their recyclables into the residual stream.

The United Nations climate talks in Cancún last December ended with a ‘consensus without Bolivia’, as most nations endorsed a compromise text drawn up by the Mexican hosts calling for deep cuts in emissions.

In 2010 waste needed people to lead the pack, to continue the drive towards resource efficiency despite budget cuts and other threats nipping at our heels. So here are the ones we looked to get things done, Resource’s top dogs, as voted for and described by you

The conjunction of events encourages me to return to a regular theme for this column, that of the recurring dilemma between consumption and ethics, and the challenges and contradictions it can often present.

At time of writing, government delegates are meeting in Japan, trying to hammer out a global deal on biodiversity in a summit that is depressingly reminiscent of Copenhagen. So, it was a good time to pick up Thompson’s book and find out if we really do need pandas...

Let’s be straight from the start: this book is selling a dream, a dream of freedom from the stresses and strains of modern life, of your own delicious, fresh-from-the-earth fruit and veg, of clucking chickens and home-brewed ale.